Let me start by saying that I am really happy that you're producing advent calendars, and I'm especially happy that you're putting out a Castle themed one again this year. I'm even happier still that you're selling them in North America this year. You've given so much that I hate to ask for anything more, but I have one tiny request.

In order to preserve the suspense and surprise, I have been avoiding all pictures of the contents of the calendar since they were released some time ago–this includes what I suspect is a very good review of each day posted on this site. When I went to order my copy from Shop at Home today, however, the picture of the set appears to have been a collection of each day's contents. I scrolled down as quickly as possible, but I still accidentally caught a glimpse of a couple of the models.

Now, I know that you want to show off the contents of the set; I suspect that this helps to boost sales as parents like to see what they're buying for their children. But, would it be possible to include this as a 'secondary' picture on SaH that would need to be clicked on to be enlarged while leaving the default, main picture as the box art? This would still allow all the benefits of showing off your hard work, but would allow for those of us who are looking at this as a true advent calendar (and are purchasing it for ourselves) to preserve some of the mystery. It such a very small thing, but while it may seem petty, it would make a great difference to some of us. Well, it would make a great difference to me, at least.

Avoiding pictures while ordering on-line is a lot easier than not looking at the box. If you don't want to see any of the pieces, then looking at the box is still a problem. Going by the kingdoms calendar, the 3 most unique figs are all lined up and displayed prominently at the bottom center of the cover flap (and it's kinda hard not to notice them when they're not in any other set). That also happens to be the location of one of the pieces of tape holding the cover down. If you ordered other stuff, it may be difficult to pick out the calendar without looking....and then you have to at least open the cover flap without looking or losing a finger. If you get yours from a Lego store, then you're really up the creek.

The alternative would be to have somebody else get one for you (or at least help you check out) and open the cover for you...but where's the fun in that? The fun comes from having the box and being unable to determine what's in it before you open it...it's not exactly fun to have the box and not even be able to look at it.

Speaking personally, I'm comfortable with the artwork on the box. While I now know what minifigures will be included–my order arrived from Lego today–I do not know in what order will appear. I also do not know what the other little daily surprises will be, with the exception of a couple that I see on the box.

In the pictures on Shop at Home, however, all of these things (minifigures and other daily surprises) were presented. They also appeared to be lined up, perhaps in the order that they will be revealed. (I don't know about this last point; I tried very hard not to look at all.)

While the artwork on the box seems to tease me with possibilities, the pictures on Shop at Home are more like spoilers. So, while I'm not looking for a plain package with no artwork whatsoever, I would still love not to see pictures of the advent calendar contents next holiday season on FOL.

I can understand your position well enough, but for me it wouldn't matter. I am just happy that it's being made in a Castle theme and is being sold here in North America. Normally, in my profession, I would be so busy around the forth quarter of the year(Oct, Nov, and Dec) that I could buy that set and set it aside. By the time December comes around I doubt I would remember the images on LEGO.com or the outside of the box. But I understand how you may not be able to do that. I just hope to remember to pick up a few sets before the run out.-Tower